INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE: Applicant(s) hereby incorporate herein by reference, any and all U.S. patents, U.S. patent applications, and other documents and printed matter cited or referred to in this application.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wall mounted book shelves and such, and more particularly to a wall mounted shelving system wherein a standard cover is used to improve the appearance of standards having bracket slots.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Stumpf et al., U.S. Des. Pat. No. 323,452 describes a dress cover for shelving standard design.
Padilla, U.S. Des. Pat. No. 345,499 describes a cover for a shelving union design.
Berk, U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,897 describes a shelf system, the combination of a compound standard comprised of a vertical rearward element externally secured and having a plurality of forwardly opening vertically-spaced holes and a forward element anterior to and abutting against the face of the rearward element and having an elongate opening for alignment with said holes, a bracket forward of said forward element and having a vertical rear face wider than said elongate opening abutting the face of said forward element, a downwardly facing. hookdevice extending rearwardly from the upper portion of said rear bracket face through said forward element opening and engaging the wall of a selected hole for retaining engagement in said, rearward element, and a shelf supported on said bracket whereby said forward element is frictionally retained in position being pressed between said rearward element and rear face of said bracket, the resistance of the forward element tithe bracket maintaining the attitude of the bracket, and an alignment pin projecting rearward from said. rear bracket face for engagement in said opening to prevent rotation of said bracket.
Keller, U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,980 describes a wooden construction comprising a bracket supported by a single screw in a grooved vertical standard. The groove prevents the bracket from twisting on the screw. Screw holes are provided at intervals in the bottom of the groove so that the bracket may be shifted up or down on the standard. Portions of the groove not occupied by the bracket are filled by a filler strip. The back side of the standard has a central tongue to fit between the edges of two adjacent wall panels whereby the standard also serves as a molding strip to cover the joint between the panels.
Bessinger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,343 describes a shelving assembly having vertical standards and cantilever brackets, an elongated generally U-shaped cover over each standard, its legs being resiliently biased toward the standard, and there being a space extending in from the apex of the cover and straddled by flanges which integrally join a cross piece forming webs and vertically spaced slots generally coinciding with slots in the standard. The legs hold the cover on the standard. The bracket holds the cover vertically in place. The cover flanges laterally stabilize the bracket. Caps and collars project from the ends of the standards. The brackets have slotted shelving mounts fitted in upper edge recesses of the brackets, each mount having an upper adhesive pad and a vertical jack for temporarily holding a shelf up off the adhesive. The jacks are shiftable down under limited predetermined force to lower the shelf onto the adhesive for anchoring. A wire clip for guiding an electric wire is attachable to the standard by lug engagement.
Bessinger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,201 describes a shelving assembly having vertical standards and cantilever brackets, and an elongated cover over each standard. The cover has slots coinciding with the standard slots but of greater length. The cover webs between the slots are shorter than the standard webs. The bracket holds the cover vertically in place. The cover flanges laterally stabilize the bracket. The brackets have lugs that extend through slots on the cover and slots on the standard, and engage behind webs on the standard between the slots. The spaces between the lug front faces and the rear edge of the bracket have receiving portions of a width to receive both standard webs and cover webs. The bracket rear edge also has abutment portions adjacent the bottom of the bracket engaging exposed standard web surface not covered by cover web.
Bessinger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,408 describes a shelving assembly having vertical standards and cantilever brackets, and an elongated generally U-shaped cover over each standard. The cover flanges laterally stabilize the bracket. The brackets have V-shaped upper recesses interfitting with slotted hemispherical shelving mounts fitted in the upper edge recesses of the brackets, each mount having a tapered slot configuration complementary to the recess configuration, and having an upper adhesive pad and a vertical jack for temporarily holding a shelf up off the adhesive. The jacks are shiftable down under limited predetermined force to lower the shelf onto the adhesive for anchoring.
Herron, III, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,835 describes a shelf bracket assembly comprising a plurality of vertical shelf bracket support strips attached to a wall, each said strip having a plurality of slots aligned vertically along the length of said support strips; a plurality of shelf brackets operatively attached to said support strips, each said bracket comprising a base comprising an upper end, a lower end, and vertically aligned hooked portions between said upper and lower ends of a size and shape to lockingly fit within said vertical slots of said support strip, and a horizontal support member fixedly connected to said base and of a size and strength capable of supporting at least half the weight of a shelf; a plurality of covers attached to said support strips for covering said support strips in the space between said shelf brackets, in the space above a top said shelf bracket and in the space below a bottom said shelf bracket.
Nicholson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,393 describes a shelf-supporting assembly with a vertical standard having a front and back portion, a shelf bracket extending outwardly from the vertical standard, a flange at a base portion of the shelf bracket extending inwardly in parallel with the front portion of the vertical standard, hook-shaped projection extending from the flange, spaced members defining gaps therebetween connecting the front portion of the vertical standard to the back portion, with the hook-shaped projections projecting through the gap defined between the spaced members, removably and supportably attaching the shelf bracket to the vertical standard.
Almoslino, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,510 describes a decorative covering for a shelving bracket in particular a bracket that is usually formed from sheet metal as an elongated, blade-like arm having mounting hooks engageable in selected slots of a vertical standard. The decorative covering is formed with a first groove for receiving conventional shelf bracket and a second groove for receiving a standard. When applied, the covering completely conceals both the horizontal blade and the vertical standard so as to enhance the appearance of a shelving system and provide the look of finished furniture.
Almoslino, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,580 describes a decorative covering for a shelving bracket in particular a bracket that is usually formed from sheet metal as an elongated, blade-like arm having mounting hooks engageable in selected slots of a vertical standard. The decorative covering is formed with a first groove for receiving conventional shelf bracket and a second groove for receiving a standard. When applied, the covering completely conceals both the horizontal blade and the vertical standard so as to enhance the appearance of a shelving system and provide the look of finished furniture.
Reith, EP0020842 describes a racked section of metal twin-U type whose middle legs are joined together by the rack properly speaking and whose lateral legs are smaller in height than the preceding ones. It is fitted with ribbons of a flexible material which hide the means for fixing to their support the bottoms of the U of the section. This fixing is obtained by providing along one of the edges of these ribbons means for clipping to the lateral legs of each U. The opposite edge of each ribbon is in the form of a thin lip overhanging the rack so as to partially hide it while allowing the introduction therein of brackets, stops, etc.
The prior art teaches the combination of standards for supporting shelf brackets and also decorative covers for the standards as well as the brackets. However, the prior art fails to teach a flexible, adhesive, plastic decorative cover, for slotted standards that is adapted for fitting onto existing installations without disassembly, and which covers both of the sides and the front face of the standards yet enables shelf brackets to be engaged and disengaged with the standards without removing the covers. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
A wall mounted shelf system comprises plural elongate bracket standards adapted for securement on a wall surface, and engaged in slots on faces of the bracket standards, plural shelf brackets support at least one shelf. Standard covers are positioned as an outer skin, in contact with opposing surfaces of the bracket standards. Apertures in the standard covers each are sized and positioned for tight-fitting around one of the shelf brackets and are open to an end edge so that the standard covers can be installed onto the bracket standards, without disassembling the brackets from the standards. In this manner, an inexpensive cover can be installed on existing shelf systems without disassembly. The butting edges of each of the covers are hidden behind the shelves so that the final appearance of the wall mounted standards may be changed in color, texture and other designer effects.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of use of such apparatus that provides advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide such an invention capable of improving the appearance of a utility wall mounted shelf system.
A further objective is to provide such an invention capable of being easily installed without disassembly of an existing shelf installation.
A still further objective is to provide such an invention capable of being easily cut to size for any shelf spacing.